Symborg cements its internationalisation in 2017

24 January 2018

2017 was a key year to cement Symborg’s internationalisation strategy. The work the company has carried out through its new subsidiaries, and opening up new international markets, has placed Symborg as one of the number-one companies working in biotechnology applied to agriculture.

The American market was one of the largest contributors to cementing its internationalisation strategy. Symborg’s subsidiaries in Mexico and the USA have carried out important work to position the company, sharing the importance of soil microbiology for growing crops, and making the properties of Symborg’s products known to fertiliser and plant-protection product experts, agricultural product marketers, and end producers of all kinds of crops.

Toward the South of the American continent, and after opening the subsidiary in Chile, Symborg pressed onward with its internationalisation strategy, improving its position on the most important Latin American markets: Chile, Argentina and Peru. By adding new strategic profiles to their staff, especially focused on developing their respective local markets, Symborg has made great progress in these 3 countries. Especially in Chile, where its participation in several agricultural events and international scientific congresses helped to disseminate how effective its microorganism-based products are.

China and Turkey

Regarding its international expansion on Asian markets, Symborg maintained its subsidiaries’ momentum in Turkey and China, cementing its position on these two important agricultural markets. This also acted as a springboard to enter other domestic markets in bordering countries. The Turkish market played a leading role in 2017, with the company participating in agricultural events, such as the international fair Growtech Eurasia, and holding several meetings with local producers.

ThinkBio

Another key piece of news in 2017 was Symborg’s becoming a shareholder with the Australian company ThinkBio. Founded in 2015, this Australian company is an expert on endophyte bacteria, with the patent on the powerful nitrogen fixer called trifixN. This is a microbial inoculum with an effective concentration of microorganisms that have the catalysing effect of atmospheric nitrogen. Symborg and thinkBio are collaborating in several lines of research, sharing know-how in agricultural biotechnology. Additionally, Symborg is contributing its business experience to commercialise agricultural products.

New plant in Alhama

Regarding its activity in Spain, last summer, Symborg announced an important project to build a new plant to manufacture a new line of products, fruit of the company’s research activity, in Alhama de Murcia. The project will be executed over the course of several deadlines until 2022, with a predicted investment of 28 million euros. Symborg estimates the creation of 45 jobs directly, and around one hundred jobs indirectly.

Experimental Farm

2017 was also the year the Symborg opened up the experimental farm. Located to the south of the city of Murcia, spanning a surface of approximately 30,000 square metres, the farm has a large greenhouse for several types of crops, and an open-air sowing area. The experimental farm is used by Symborg’s researchers and technicians for all kinds of trials and tests on crops, both for the products currently in the portfolio and for new product lines under development.

In the words of Jesús Juárez, CEO of Symborg, 2017 was a key year for the company. “We have been working on internationalisation for several years, and in 2017 we strengthened our subsidiaries’ work on several key markets in the agriculture industry, especially Mexico and Turkey. However, we are aware that this is a long-term task, so we will continue to develop our international expansion plans. Juárez also highlighted the importance of the new manufacturing plant: “the announcement of our investment in the new Alhama de Murcia plant is an important milestone for the company, and one more step toward its commitment to the region and the opportunity to create employment, which brings us great joy”